Be Not Afraid

Dear Godkids,

Something has been on my mind a lot today.

Fear.

Fear is a powerful motivator. Fear can be a strong chain. Fear never liberates. It only binds. Fear never frees. It confuses. Fear is the enemy of Truth.

There is a reason that "Be not afraid" is the most used phrase in the Bible. There is a reason why it has become almost synonymous with John Paul II's epic papacy. There is a reason why he especially implored young people to "Be not afraid!" What Jesus knew, what JPII knew, is that fear can cripple us. It can break us. It can keep us from becoming who we are made to be, and coming to know who God is.

And I see it everywhere. Fear.

I see fear in the eyes of the young woman who refuses to break up with her boyfriend, even though they aren't meant for each other.

I see fear in the face of the young man who screwed up but doesn't know how to take responsibility.

I see fear in the woman contemplating abortion.

I see fear in the couple who stops using NFP and turns to contraception because it seems easier.

I see fear in the young woman afraid to step out in life and live boldly.

I see fear in the parents who hover and micromanage their children.

I see fear in the young man who sits in Church and refuses to say the prayers, but something draws him there anyway.

I see fear in the boy who won't stand up to a bully.

I see fear in the girl who won't see her own beauty.

I see fear in the woman who becomes an isolationist and racist. 

I see fear in the young person who won't say "no" to peer pressure.

I see fear in the man who hates others who are not like him.

I see fear in the young person who is trying to ignore God's call.

Fear is nasty. It sneaks into us. Sometimes fear comes because we have been hurt. We have been wounded. We want to protect ourselves from more hurt. We become afraid.  When we have wounds or hurts that cause us to fear, it means we need healing. Never be afraid to pursue healing. Whether that is in the form of therapy, spiritual direction, confession, or psychotherapy, physical therapy, or any combination of the above. Pursuing healing is an act of Hope and an act of Faith. Fear cannot remain long where one seeks healing! Just don't forget that Jesus is THE Healer, and as you pursue healing for the mind or body, its also important to pursue healing for the soul. When the soul is healthy, it is harder for fear to enter.

Sometimes fear comes because we lack faith. Fear is the antithesis of faith. They cannot co-exist. The more faith increases, the fear decreases. This doesn't mean you may never feel afraid. Feelings are human. They are natural. But we have the power to choose to have Trust in God and to overcome our fear. That power comes from the Holy Spirit. Trust, to Jesus, is the ultimate act of Love for Him. He wants nothing more than our Trust - reckless trust - in Him. The more we trust, the less we fear. The less we fear, the more free we become.

Fear is funny. It sneaks up on us and lies. Fear whispers, "I am reasonable. Fear is healthy. I will keep you safe." But it doesn't. Fear traps. It never frees. We justify our fear. We tell ourselves it is good and OK to be afraid. Maybe we even think we deserve to feel afraid. But Jesus told us something very different: BE NOT AFRAID.

Godkids, you were not created with a spirit of fear! You were created to be free in Jesus - the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He told us that the Truth will set you free! And the beautiful and amazing Truth is that Trust, Faith, are what you were created to have! Not fear and doubt!

Ask Jesus in the Divine Mercy to help you Trust Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you an increase in the gift of Faith. Keep asking Him!

The world needs your witness of Trust. Too many people are afraid and living in fear. Don't be one of them, your Godmother is here to help you.

Until next time,
With Love,
Your Fairy Godmother

So What if You're Young?!

So I suppose its no secret that I try to make my prayer time a priority. My morning prayers typically include reading from several different books of the Bible, doing some spiritual reading, visiting with the souls in Purgatory and trying to meditate without my kids waking up or interrupting.

Obviously he didn't have children ;)
photo Cred: facebook.com/thecatholicrose

Sometimes a wonderful thing happens when I say my prayers and its like everything comes together to basically beat me over the head. This happened this morning.

It started with me reading about a soon to be new saint, Bl. Jose Sanchez del Rio. He was just credited with the miracle he needed to be Canonized! He cured a baby who had a fatal stroke and tuberculosis. (Read the whole story Here) But here is what got me: he was a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD MARTYR! That's right. Fourteen. 14. Four-teen.  This of course made me think of my Godchildren!  God wants you to be saints too!

Bl. Jose Sanchez's story is pretty crazy. He was martyred during the Cristero wars in Mexico. These were wars against the anti-Catholic government that openly persecuted and killed Catholics. Bl. Miguel Pro, best know for shouting "Viva Cristo Rey" (Long Live Christ the King!) was also martyred during this time.  Bl. Jose was tortured before he was killed. The soles of his feet were cut off and then he was forced to march to his grave. When he got there he defiantly yelled "Viva Cristo Rey" like his fellow Cristero martyrs, and was executed.  Think about that. He was fourteen.

Bl. Jose Sanchez del Rio and the baby he healed being held by her Mama.
photo cred: Catholic News Agency

After reading about Bl. Jose I turned to my Bible reading. (Here's where it gets crazy). Having just finished reading through Isaiah, I began Jeremiah today and read this: "But the Lord answered me, 'Do not say, "I am too young," To whomever I send you, you shall go; and to whomever I command you, you shall speak.'" (Jer 1:7).  That struck me as a fun "coincidence" after having just read about 14 year Jose and thinking of my Godchildren.  So then I turned to 1 Tim 4 and read THIS: (verse 12) "Let no one have contempt for your youth, but set an example for those who believe, in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity."

Well!! After all that, how could I NOT write you this blog letter and beg you to not listen to those who say that you are "young" and therefore not capable of living for God. Not capable of greatness. Not capable of becoming saints!

When I think about St. Philomena, martyred at thirteen. Maria Goretti, who was martyred when she was ELEVEN (and begged her attacker to stop because she was afraid for his soul!), Dominic Savio who died of illness when he was fifteen, Agnes of Rome who was thirteen when she was martyred, St. Francis of Assisi was in his early twenties when he renounced his family in a spectacular (and naked) fashion and gave his life to God alone, and lets not forget the Blessed Mother, a young teen when the Angel visited her!

I do not believe these young men and women were anomalies! Yet people today would try to have you believe that "kids are just different now" and that "back then children matured faster." I don't buy it.  Bl. Jose didn't live "back then." The Cristero Wars took place less than 100 years ago in the late 1920s.  No, I think people do you a great diservice when they don't think you are capable of being saints. Now. Today. Because you are. 

Why don't we expect MORE from you, as you are teenagers? You are capable of SO MUCH. Its a lie, a flat out lie that "now is the time to have fun." "You're only young once!" "Live while you're young." "YOLO" is a trap and an excuse to not live for something greater than yourself. Did Bl. Jose yell "YOLO" at his executioners? No. He yelled "LONG LIVE CHRIST THE KING." He lived for someOne not somthing. That, dear Godchildren is the difference.

Who are you living for?

Yourself? 
You will be empty and disappointed.

Christ? Others? 
You will have the capacity to be a saint.

You knew I couldn't leave him out ;)

See we have our perspective all wrong. We treat this life here on earth as the be-all-end-all. Its not. We are here so that we might go to Heaven. THAT is out goal. Not living it up. Not partying. Not getting away with as much as we can. Not living for ourselves. This is what all the saints understood! They understood that they were here so that they could learn how to love God in a way that would allow them to Love not only HIM in Eternity, but the world!

They understood that this life was passing, so they better not care so much about stuff and things that weren't of God and start caring for Eternity! They LOVED here on earth as best they could, yet they understood that they would be able to do so much more in Heaven! This is a worthy goal! This should be our goal too!

This is what we are ALL called to do, my Godchildren. To be saints. To Love, not ourselves here on earth, but to love God and love others so that we may love perfectly in Heaven! In Heaven we will be able to live so much more fully than we could ever imagine here!

Do you think when he was marching to his grave Bl. Jose thought he would one day heal a baby? Do you think he knew the impact he would have or the great things God would allow to happen through his intercession?  His life of love and faith has allowed him to do infinitely more now that he is in Heaven!

May we all be so blessed!

You can do it! You CAN BE SAINTS!

With Love,
Your Fairy Godmother

Fake It

We've all heard it. "Just fake it."
We've all done it.  Fake it, I mean.

But I want to suggest that there is only ONE time when its actually OK to "fake it."

No. Its not at the family party you didn't want to go to. (Gasp! How did she know?!  I'm in the same family, remember?)

No, its not online. (Umm photo editing apps, anyone?  Add enough tint and EVERYONE looks perfect)

No, its not at school. (What?! But if they knew the real me I wouldn't have ANY friends!)

The only time its acceptable to "fake it" is when it comes to faith.

What the wha?!  (Pssst. We got a reject Godmother. She is telling us to fake faith!) 

So aside from faking Faith, which we will get to in a minute, lets say why its NOT OK to "fake it" in other circumstances. The short answer is because God created you to be authentically you. Only YOU can be the person He created you to be. Only YOU can fulfill the purpose He has for your life. Being fake just mucks it all up. He doesn't want you to be fake. He wants you to be YOU because - are you ready for this - because THE WORLD NEEDS YOU.  I am so not exaggerating. 

It might sound like a Youth Group Cliche, but its totally true that God made you to be YOU because He knows that the world needs YOU. But it needs REAL you. Not Fake you. Satan LOVES to confuse young people. He lies to them and tells them that aren't good enough. Aren't pretty enough. Aren't strong enough. Aren't smart enough. Aren't popular enough. Aren't worth enough.

LIES!!!! LIES!!!! Think about it. If any of those things were true, the devil would't try so hard to convince you of them!

You know, I love Pope John Paul II (shocker, I know). He was loved by SO MANY young people. And one of the reasons why was because he saw who they were, and he told them they were GOOD! In his eyes, no one needed to be fake. No one needed to put on an act. No one needed to fake it.  He saw young people the way God does. GOOD! BEAUTIFUL! GIFTED!

If God thought the world didn't need you, didn't need what you have to offer, He wouldn't have created you the way you already are. 
Whoah.
Mind. Blown.

So. Be YOU. Authentic, imperfect, sometimes awkward YOU. And a funny thing will happen.

You'll be happier. You'll be freer. You'll be less stressed (lets face it, faking it is exhausting. So is worrying about people finding out that you're faking it). You'll discover more about yourself. You'll make BETTER friends. You'll have deeper relationships.

But you still have to be polite at Aunt Gertrude's family party. Being real doesn't mean you get to be rude. (Yes, I know we don't ACTUALLY have an Aunt Gertrude but wouldn't it be sort of cool if we did?) 

So back to faking faith. 

Its actually not my idea. I got it from the Bible (uh.... We're Catholic, we don't read the Bible. < bad joke> ) 

Throughout the Bible we are reminded that we are to have Faith. But what do you do when you feel like you don't? You make an ACT of faith. To put it bluntly, you basically fake it. And then a funny thing happens. It comes. Faith isn't a feeling. Its not magic. Its not something you can even consider tangible. Its a gift. And the fastest way to get God to give you MORE of this gift is to get His attention by acting as though you already have it.  Here's the trick: don't give up. Decide. Do I lack faith? Do I want more or deeper faith? Then I shall simply go about my life as though I already had it. I PROMISE He will give you all the faith you lack AND MORE.  Its one of His favorite things to do. 

John Paul II gives us a great reason why its totally worth it to "fake it" when it comes to faith:

We ALL want to be happy. If Jesus is what is going to ultimately make us the MOST happy, and we need to have Faith in order to know Him, well then, lets start Faking it! 

(Actually, I thought of ONE MORE instance when its totally legit to fake it. When your God mother asks you if you like the blog and you think to yourself, "actually its kinda lame" FAKE IT and instead say "I LOVE IT. ITS AWESOME!"    ;)   )

Love,

Your fairy Godmother